Philadelphia Eagles fail to show up vs. Arizona Cardinals

Paul Connors/Associated PressEagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) gets off a pass as he is chased by the Arizona Cardinals' Darnell Dockett during the second half of Sunday's game.

Mike Vick didn’t throw any interceptions yesterday, which was all of the good news for the Eagles.

Instead, Vick had two of the three Eagles fumbles, was sacked five times, was called for intentional grounding and took 20 hits that left him on the ground as Kevin Kolb and the Arizona Cardinals pummeled the Eagles, 27-6.

Arizona outplayed the Eagles in all three aspects of the game – offense, defense and special teams — outcoached them, and outclassed them as the Cards began the season 3-0 for the first time since 1974.

For Vick and the Eagles it was their first loss after two come-from-behind one-point victories had them off to a 2-0 start.

“I didn’t have the team ready to play this week,’’ Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. “That’s on me. Field position, turnovers, you can’t have that against a good team.’’

The Eagles three turnovers gave them a total of 12 for the season, but was also the least amount they have had in a game this year. They opened the season with five against Cleveland, and had four last week against Baltimore. By the bye week they should be down to zero.

Yesterday started with a fumble by undrafted rookie punt returner Damaris Johnson, this led to Arizona’s first touchdown and an early 10-0 lead.

A year ago Reid went with a rookie kicker and a rookie punter. Fortunately for him it didn’t cost him much during the 8-8 debacle. This year he’s going with a rookie kick returner and a rookie punt returner. He may want to re-think that.

Johnson’s bad decision on fielding a punt last week handed Baltimore three points. That largely went overlooked when the team came back to win. Yesterday, he fumbled away seven points and also fair caught a punt at the 5 yardline.

That was only the beginning of the Eagles’ problems.

Down 17-0 as the first half was coming to a close, Vick connected with DeSean Jackson for a 14-yard gain to the 1 yardline. It appeared Jackson was going into the end zone, but Arizona’s Kerry Rhodes stood him up at the 1.

After two incompletions, and with six seconds on the clock, the Eagles decided to go for one more play instead of trying an easy field goal.

“I thought about the field goal,” Reid said. “But I thought we could get it into the end zone.’’

Rhodes came unblocked on a corner blitz, hit Vick, forced a fumble and James Sanders returned it 93 yards for a touchdown and a 24-0 lead.

Half over. Game over.

Paul Connors/Associated PressArizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, left, is tackled by Eagles cornerback Brandon Boykin after making a reception in the first quarter of Sunday's game.

“He came free,” Reid said of Rhodes.

Did Vick see him?

“I knew he was coming,’’ the quarterback said. “I hoped the back would pick him up.”
The Eagles offense didn’t pick up much of anything, as Vick took hit after hit. It was amazing he finished the game.

“I’m not concerned,” he said. “I’m just going to keep fighting.’’

Playing behind a career practice-squad center in Dallas Reynolds, a left tackle who was benched in training camp in Demetrius Bell and two average guards in Danny Watkins and Evan Mathis, Vick never had much of a chance.

Hey, Eagles fans have chanted for years what they thought of Dallas. Those chants may continue even when the Cowboys aren’t in town.

“There were a lot of things,’’ Reid said of the line’s problems. “I wish I could say it was just one thing or one person. He is getting hit too much. I can help there. There are some things we can do.”

Like the run the ball?

The Eagles did that just five times in the first half, while dropping Vick back 25 times. He landed on the ground 10 of those 25 times and then 10 more times in the second half.
Vick finished the game 17-for-37 for 217 yards and a quarterback rating of 64.8, or just a little better than half of Kolb’s 127.4.

“We have to play better than this,’’ Vick said. “It starts with me. We’re going to have to make some adjustments and we will. We have to watch the film and figure it out.’’